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Tea Reduces Fracture Risk
All,
A new prospective study [1] reported on here found that elderly women who drank the most tea had a 30% reduced risk of osteoporotic fractures compared with women who abstained from drinking tea. In the study, researchers followed ~1200 women age 75+ for 10 years and associated their tea drinking habits with subsequence risk of fracture. Here is the highlight from the abstract:
In comparison with the lowest tea intake category (≤1 cup/wk), consumption of ≥3 cups/d was associated with a 30% decrease in the risk of any osteoporotic fracture (HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.96). Compared with women in the lowest tertile of total flavonoid intake (from tea and diet), women in the highest tertile had a lower risk of any osteoporotic fracture (HR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.88), major osteoporotic fracture (HR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.95), and hip fracture (HR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.36, 0.95).
No mention is made of a comparison between the relative effects of black vs. green tea on fracture risk in this cohort. Given the subjects were Australian women, it is likely they were drinking mostly black tea so no meaningful comparison could be made.
I recently started drinking a combination of black and green tea based on suggestive evidence that black tea may have some health benefits that green tea does not, and visa versa. This study could be interested as further (albeit weak) support such a strategy.
--Dean
P.S. Here is a nice infographic on the health benefits of Coffee vs. Tea, although bone health isn't mentioned as a benefit for either one.
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[1] Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Oct;102(4):958-65. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.115.109892. Epub 2015 Aug 12. Tea and flavonoid intake predict osteoporotic fracture risk in elderly Australian women: a prospective study. Myers G(1), Prince RL(2), Kerr DA(3), Devine A(4), Woodman RJ(5), Lewis JR(2), Hodgson JM(6). BACKGROUND: Observational studies have linked tea drinking, a major source of dietary flavonoids, with higher bone density. However, there is a paucity of prospective studies examining the association of tea drinking and flavonoid intake with fracture risk. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the associations of black tea drinking and flavonoid intake with fracture risk in a prospective cohort of women aged >75 y. DESIGN: A total of 1188 women were assessed for habitual dietary intake with a food-frequency and beverage questionnaire. Incidence of osteoporotic fracture requiring hospitalization was determined through the Western Australian Hospital Morbidity Data system. Multivariable adjusted Cox regression was used to examine the HRs for incident fracture. RESULTS: Over 10 y of follow-up, osteoporotic fractures were identified in 288 (24.2%) women; 212 (17.8%) were identified as a major osteoporotic fracture, and of these, 129 (10.9%) were a hip fracture. In comparison with the lowest tea intake category (≤1 cup/wk), consumption of ≥3 cups/d was associated with a 30% decrease in the risk of any osteoporotic fracture (HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.96). Compared with women in the lowest tertile of total flavonoid intake (from tea and diet), women in the highest tertile had a lower risk of any osteoporotic fracture (HR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.88), major osteoporotic fracture (HR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.95), and hip fracture (HR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.36, 0.95). For specific classes of flavonoids, statistically significant reductions in fracture risk were observed for higher intake of flavonols for any osteoporotic fracture and major osteoporotic fracture, as well as flavones for hip fracture (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Higher intake of black tea and particular classes of flavonoids were associated with lower risk of fracture-related hospitalizations in elderly women at high risk of fracture. PMID: 26269364